“The Breath of War,” Aliette de Bodard’s story of society and motherhood in the aftermath of a colonial space warm, from BCS #142 Science-Fantasy Month 2 and podcast BCS 121 guest-narrated by Tina Connolly, is a finalist for the Nebula Award for Short Story.

Congratulations!! “The Breath of War” is a great story of character-centered, secondary-world (science) fantasy.

Aliette’s short fiction has appeared many times in BCS over the years, most recently “The Moon Over Red Trees” in BCS #157 Sixth Anniversary Double-Issue and podcast BCS 136.

BCS #167 is out today, featuring two authors new to BCS with tales of characters working their way through new places.

Bruce McAllister offers “Madonna,” a story of his two long-traveling companions encountering intriguing locals in a city rapt with festival. C. Allegra Hawksmoor in “Y Brenin” shows a character in turmoil over the mission he must complete and the person who ordered it.

The BCS Audio Vault episode with BCS #166 is BCS Audio Vault 015: he Ascent of Unreasonby Marie Brennan, set in her Driftwood world. It’s introduced by the author, explaining her aim of writing a story in that bleak Driftwood setting that was fun; one in which the characters refused to let the nihilism of that setting grind them down.

Three stories from BCS made the 2014 Recommended Reading List from Locus magazine, the top review source in the field, as compiled by their veteran team of short fiction reviewers including Jonathan Strahan, Lois Tilton, Rich Horton, Gardner Dozois, Ellen Datlow, and many others.

BCS Audio Vault 015: The Ascent of Unreason by Marie Brennan is introduced by the author, explaining her goal in writing a a story in the Driftwood setting that was fun; one in which the characters refused to let the nihilism of that setting grind them down.

BCS #165 is out today, featuring two returning BCS authors, a guest-narrated podcast, and a classic BCS story emerging from The BCS Audio Vault.

Therese Arkenberg returns to BCS with “For Lost Time,” another story in the long and fraught journey of her protagonists from “The Storms in Arisbat” in BCS #110 (given a Recommended rating by Locus online).

The BCS Audio Vault episode with BCS #165 is BCS Audio Vault 014: Between Shifting Skin and Certainty by Justin Howe, a gritty tale of sword & sorcery aesthetics and mood combined with political intrigue and a fluid sense of self. It’s introduced by the author, detailing the 19th Century female adventurer’s travel log and the Kurosawa film that inspired facets of the story.